When fire melts ice
by frostehpyro
Summary: Due to a fire that wrecked her home in Russia, Natalie is forced to live with her Uncle and cousin in England. She is shipped off to Hogwarts and her life unravels even more in the coming months. Will things take a turn for the best? DM/OC (rated M might be taken down to T unsure as of yet)
1. Prologue

Prologue:

The heat was almost unbearable as she stood in her father's study, her eyes darting every which way to find a gap for her to get out of the burning house. She squinted through the heavy smoke that made her eyes tear up and her lungs contract so that her breathing was more of a strangled wheezing sound.

The flames seemed to be all around her but still she stood in front of her Fathers desk and squinted to find a gap in the smoke and flames. She desperately wanted her wand so that she could at least dowse some of the flames and make a path for herself to the door or window, but she had left it in her bedroom which was surely by now ashes.

She whimpered softly as she heard a crash from somewhere above her in the massive house she lived in. She thought about her available exits and thought about which would be the easiest. She glanced behind her at where the window should be but saw almost nothing besides orange smoke. The ceiling creaked hazardously and she made up her mind quickly about the window. She would just have to brave the fire and hope for the best.

She glanced to either side of the desk but her path was blocked on either side by roaring flames, looking at the desk again she ducked under it, took a deep breath and then ran forwards through the smoke and flames to where she remembered the window to be… Approximately.

Luckily she only missed the window by a few centimeters and managed to not get severely burnt though her calves stung from where the fire had licked at them. Without thinking she stuck out her palm to push the partially open window, the heat of the glass scorched her hand badly before she pulled her hand away. Hearing the ceiling creak ominously once more she made a quick decision and smashed the glass with her elbow, the glass sliced through her thin nightgown and cut her elbow, she hissed at the sharp pain and then glanced down to the ground that lay two stories below.

She climbed onto the ledge of the window took a breath of slightly fresher air and then allowed herself to tumble down to the grass below the window.

As she fell her body twisted and she landed on her back with a thud.

She could here voices shouting to her left but she was too exhausted, or overcome with adrenaline, that she could not turn her head to find the sources. Taking a deep breath she winced at the sharp pain that came from her chest, the pain so bad it made her see spots. Whimpering again due to her sudden lack of vocal cords she finally heard a couple voices slightly closer to her.

Her eyes slid closed involuntarily, from the pain or the adrenaline she did not know, and her last thought was to her mother and father, _I hope they got out unharmed, I tried to look for them I really did, I'm sorry, _Then her world went black.

oOoOoOoOoO

A/N: I know this one is rather short but it is just the prologue! I promise the rest will be longer. For future reference, the chapter sizes will vary as I see fit.


	2. Chapter 1: Letters

**Due to a fire that wrecked her home in Russia Natalie is forced to live with her Uncle and cousin in England. She is shipped off to Hogwarts and her life unravels even more in the coming months. Will things take a turn for the best? DM/OC**

**Chapter 1: The Letter**

Waking up slowly, she sat up in her new bed and tried to recall what had woken her from a dreamless sleep so early in the morning.

Well, early for her that is.

Scanning her room for things that would have disturbed her, she was interrupted by a tapping at the window farthest from her bed. Grumbling sleepily about early mornings and unnecessary wake up calls, she moved towards the window and opened it wide enough to allow the tawny owl entrance, and left it open for its departure, all the while giving the owl the most disapproving scowl she could muster in her half asleep state.

Turning to the owl which had seated itself on her oak desk with its foot thrust out at her, impatiently waiting for her to untie the letter, She relieved it of its delivery and watched as it hooted, circled the high ceiling and soared out the open window.

"Ruddy owls" she grumbled as she fumbled to unravel the roll of parchment that was surprisingly addressed to her, she did not have any friends or family that would be owling her and it tweaked her interest as to who had sent her an owl.

_**Ms' Natalie Alys Frost,**_

_**Due to unfortunate circumstances it has come to our attention that you are in need of a place to complete your last two years of your school career.**_

_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would like to extend an invitation to you to complete those last two years with us.**_

_**Please speak with your Guardian and make a decision whether or not you wish to attend when term starts come 1 September.**_

_**Please reply with haste so that you may receive the list regarding your supplies.**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**Minerva McGonagall  
**_

_**Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.**_

Rereading the letter Natalie made a decision to shower and get dressed so she could meet with her uncle to discuss the letter and what she would be doing.

Not thirty minutes later Natalie could be found making her way down to her uncle's study where she guessed he would be. Her dark waist length hair almost dry, her minimal make up meticulous, as her mother had taught her when she was 14, and her black robe in perfect place as per normal. Just as her uncle preferred, normal.

He hated her.

Natalie knew this because she was not utterly ignorant to the goings on in people's minds and his uncanny way of insulting her in some way in every conversation. Not that there was much she could do about it. She guessed that it stemmed from his hatred of her father due to the fact that he had inherited the Metamorph gene and her uncle had not, thus when her father passed it on to her, her uncle naturally hated her too. She thought it was a load of crap, not that she knew much about sibling rivalry because she was an only child. None of that had changed. Not even with her father gone.

Before she knocked on his study door she turned to the portrait of her Great-great-add a heck load more greats to that-grandmother, Talitha, and asked whether she looked neat.

"Splendid, Darling." She drawled, glancing at me over her spectacles.

"Thank you." She replied and then turned to knock on her uncles study door.

"Enter." Came the reply from inside the room.

Opening the doors Natalie was surprised, not pleasantly mind you, to find he had guests.

The one she recognised, from when she was little, as Lucius Malfoy the father of her childhood best friend Draco Malfoy. The other she didn't know the name or face of.

Lucius turned to look at Natalie as she stood in the doorway, lazily swinging his cane back and forth.

"Good morning Uncle." she said as she bowed slightly. As she rose Natalie made sure to keep her eyes straight at him, such as her father had taught her as soon as she could speak. Apparently it is rude and makes you seem like you had something to hide; she thought this was also a load of crap.

_Stupid pureblood policies, _she thought,_ I hate this! I just want to be home in my nice warm bed._

"Ah Natalie you are awake. I was wondering when you were going to make an appearance. Gentleman, this is her niece Natalie Frost. As you make recall her parents recently passed and she was placed under my supervision." Maximillion said to the two men.

"Well at least she has manners, Maximillion, one less thing you have to worry about teaching her." Malfoy drawled, motioning to her with the tip of his cane.

"Yes that is definitely _something_ her father did right, Lucius." He said before turning to Natalie with an eyebrow raised, "Well? What is it you want?"

"I am terribly sorry to interrupt, sir. But I received an invitation to attend a school. I have just come down to give the letter to you so that you may make a decision regarding it." She said confidently, _there is no way in hell that I am going to give them another reason to talk badly about her father_.

"Ah, yes. Leave it on my desk. I shall look over it as soon as I am done and then send Twible to find you when I have decided."

"Yes sir." she stated lamely as she crossed the room to place the letter on the desk in front of her dearest, note the sarcasm please, uncle.

"Also, Nika is out. So don't bother looking for her." Maximillion said, as she backed out and closed the door behind her.

_As if I would bother? At least the insufferable twit I call my cousin is out of my hair for the time being._

She started to make her way towards the library, to find a book to read before she went out to the backyard to sit in her favourite tree high up in the branches and pretend to be at home instead of the ghastly mansion she was living in, but as she reached the foot of the stairs her stomach rumbled in protest of her missing breakfast. Sighing Natalie turned and walked toward the kitchen.

"How can Button help you Miss?" squeaked a small house elf as soon as she stepped foot within the larger than average kitchen.

"May I have an apple please, Button?" Natalie asked peering down upon the timid little elf.

"Of course Miss." She said before popping away and not a second later popping back to hand me one large, shiny green apple.

"There you are Miss."

Thanking her, or at least she assumed it was a her because let's face it you can't really tell the difference in gender when it comes to house elves, they don't exactly dress to their gender or even have names that suggest to which gender they belong.

She stepped out of the kitchen and turned to head to the library where she could find a good book to read outside

Two hours later she could be found way up in the thick leaves of the twisted oak tree reading **101 Dark Potions.** Suddenly she heard a pop and a yelp from an elf trying desperately to balance on the thin branch to her left.

"Master Frost would like to speak with you in his office now, Miss." Squeaked the elf as it regained its footing.

"Tell him I am on my way, please Twible?" Natalie asked the house elf well naturedly.

"Certainly Miss." She said before popping off again to relay Natalie's message.

She stood up on the thick branch, stretched and then placed the book in the bucket that she used to hoist things she wanted up in the tree, watched it drop to the ground and then proceeded the climb down a few branches before dropping like a rock to the ground.

She wasn't your typical girl, she liked to climb, build, play Quidditch on occasion and read, and she didn't take much interest in social events, the latest fashion, what this girl said to the other and so forth like other girls her age. Of course she had to wear make-up, keep her hair and nails well groomed (not hard for a Metamorphmagus) and attend social events but she never really joined in with the other girls or paid much attention to what they were saying because most of the time it was utter rubbish. For appearances sake though she shoved on a pretty smiling face and played along with the other pretty manicured pure-blood girls all the while wishing she could talk about Quidditch or her favourite book.

Making her way back inside and towards her uncle's study, she murmured quick Hello's to some of the portraits she recognised on the walls.

She was getting better at navigating through the large house because within a few minutes she was inside her uncle's study and bowing again.

"You wished to speak with me, Uncle?"

"Yes," he said barely looking up at her, "Take a seat."

"Thank you Uncle." She said while moving towards one of the deep green chairs that sit in front of his Mahogany desk.

"How have you been fairing, Natalie?" He asked the question itself would make it seem as though he cared but his voice lacked the emotion required.

"Very well Uncle. I find your library most intriguing." She said, looking at his desk as he stared at something outside.

"Good, good." He muttered, not interested in the least.

_Of course he isn't. He hates having me live underneath his roof, if I was a boy that would be a different matter in a whole. He killed his own wife without caring, for the reason that; the Dark Lord commanded him to and after the twit – cousin – she had become infertile and thereby she wasn't able to give him a snotty little boy therefore making her useless. Arse. _

_Babbling Natalie, _her mind interrupted, _you should pay attention or you will pay for it, and you know you will._

_Yes, yes. Shut up._

"Any correspondents, of late?" _Of course not, the arse knows I have no friends and no family besides him! Ugh!_

"No sir. Well not besides Hogwarts that is." She replied obediently.

"Pity. What do you think of this school?"

"I think it would be a great way for me to further my studies and not get in your way every day for the next two years." _Pfft, like I give a shit about getting in his way. For all I know school might be fun. And change is always good as Father would say._

"Yes. In truth I was considering sending you with Nika to Beauxbatons but I doubt she would appreciate having to baby sit you until she graduates come the end of the year." He glanced at her in distaste; _well I don't like her either. _"I have considered the offer and I too think it would be preferable to keep you out of her way, yet easy enough for me to keep an eye on all your doings. Yes, I seem to have talked myself into it. Write back to them and tell them you will attend come the first. When Nika receives her supply letter you can go to Diagon Alley with your elves and buy what you need." He drawled, still fascinated with something outside which Natalie could not see.

"Terribly sorry sir, but my elf recently died. I don't have one any longer…" She said hesitantly.

"Ah yes. We will have to right that now wont we?" Looking thoughtful for a moment he called out to thin air; "Button!"

The small, timid elf from the kitchen popped into sight before you could murmur Quidditch.

"Yes Master Frost?" It squeaked.

"You shall listen and do everything Natalie here asks of you. I am relinquishing you to her. You now answer directly to her. Understood?" He looked down upon the elf in disgust.

"Yes Master Frost." It nodded rapidly.

"Leave now."

The elf bowed to her uncle, then turned and repeated the action in her direction before popping away.

"Thank you, sir, for your generosity." She said obediently.

"Yes. You are dismissed. Make your way back to wherever you were hiding beforehand and reply to the letter accordingly."

"Of course, sir, Thank you sir." She said before standing and making her way out the door. Not heading back to the tree but instead her bedroom to find parchment and a quill to reply with.

Lying in bed that evening she thought back on the events of the day. She was finally going to go to an actual school, not home schooled by her mother but an actual school. The thought made her smile in anticipation, something that nowadays was quite rare. She continued to think of all the things that would happen before she fell asleep

oOoOo

Two days later Natalie had been sitting in _her_ oak tree_,_ as she had dubbed it, when a tawny owl had landed on the branch next to her and stuck out its leg for her to untie a letter that had been addressed to her.

Recognising the seal she dropped her book and the letter into her bucket and climbed to the foot of the tree.

She took the letter and the book and ran up to the mansion and then walked to her uncles office her long bleach blonde hair bouncing with her every step.

Being a Metamorph meant that Natalie could change her appearance at will, so every week she chose a different hair style, hair colour and eye colour to match her mood, at home in Russia she would have made use of outrageous colours but that wasn't tolerated in her uncles house so she had to stick to natural hair and eye colours instead of violet hair or pitch black eyes. This put a bit of a damper on her creative outlets but made her even more excited to get to Hogwarts where she could look however she liked and not give a shit.

Letting her uncle know that she had received her supply letter she walked back to her room to get the key to her Gringotts vault and make sure she looked okay and didn't have to change. Finding that she looked neat enough she sat down at her desk and thought about what exactly she would need and made another list of things to buy, like a new trunk and some casual dress robes etcetera, she called upon her elf and asked to be taken to Diagon Alley.

The small elf apparated Natalie to an alley way between two shops. She thanked the elf and requested that she be left alone to do her shopping and then she would call if she needed anything, the elf bowed and popped away.

Glancing around, she stepped out onto the cobble walkway and walked toward the huge white and gold building standing on the corner, Gringotts the wizard bank.

After Natalie had filled her money bag with bronze Knuts, silver Sickles and gold Galleons she made her way down the cobble walkway once again walking through crowded stores and buying a few supplies here and there that were going to be delivered straight to her uncles mansion instead of her having to lug it around while she walked, this cost a few Knuts extra but she had the money to spare from her inheritance.

Finally she walked into a bustling Flourish and Blotts and asked the cashier where she could locate the sixth year books that she needed for her year ahead, he pointed her to a shelf that was clearly marked **Hogwarts Sixth Year. **

After she had collected one of each book she needed it had created quite a hefty pile in her arms and she turned to walk towards the counter to pay she hadn't thought to check if there was anyone behind her and she bumped straight into the torso of a tall brown haired boy that had been reaching over her head to get to the seventh year shelf.

"Holy shit! I am so sorry!" Natalie mumbled as she winded him with an 'oomph' and dropped a heavy tomb on his foot; "Are you alright? I am so sorry I did not see you and shit are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." He gulped as he hopped up and down on one foot.

"Merlin. I am such an idiot." She mumbled embarrassed as she bent to pick up the fallen book.

"Seriously, it's okay. I probably should have said I was behind you or something." He said as he recovered; "Sixth year?"

"Uhm yeah. I am really sorry about that."

"It's fine, really stop apologising. What house are you in? I haven't seen you around and there aren't very many sixth years I don't know." He said as she stood, the pile of books still balanced in her arms.

"Uh I don't know yet…" Natalie replied.

"Oh. Are you new or something?" he asked visibly surprised.

"Yes I am starting this year."

"Oh where were you before? I am Thomas Morgan, Ravenclaw." He introduced.

"Natalie Frost, I was home schooled." She explained.

"TOM! Where are you? We need to get home!" someone called from the crowd behind us.

"Sorry I have to go, see you at Hogwarts Natalie." Thomas said while he stretched up to get the book he was reaching for beforehand.

"Yeah, sure." She said to the boy's back as he walked away.

She paid for her books and left the store.

She continued to window shop, occasionally popping into a shop to buy something she needed, she had bought most of her supplies all she needed now was a pet and a replacement wand as her last one had been burnt to a crisp in the 'incident'.

She stopped outside as she reached Ollivanders, its golden signage old and peeling but still flashing every so often, Ollivanders was so famous nowadays that it wasn't necessary to have a perfect flashing sign.

A bell chimed inside the store as she stepped inside the cramped room. The walls were lined with small boxes in what seemed to be no particular order whatsoever, suddenly a man popped out from behind another wall of small boxes.

"Welcome to Ollivanders. How can I help you?" the man asked.

"My wand was destroyed in a fire so I need a replacement."

"What a pity. Certainly, let me get your measurements. Which is your wand hand?" he asked.

"My left." Natalie answered as a measuring tape literally measured _everywhere._

"Hmm let's see here." He mumbled as he moved between the shelves.

"Try this one?" He said handing her a long thin brown wand, she picked it up and gave it a flick nothing happened and the man hummed disapprovingly and snatched the wand away. This happened a few times until the old man gave a great 'A hah!' and handed me a long thin cream wand with real jewels encrusted in the handle.

"Try this one, it should be perfect for you, thirteen and a quarter inches, yew, unicorn hair, unyielding and tourmaline encrusted. A tad more expensive than the average wand due to the jewels but yes it should be perfect. Try it out."

He handed the wand to her and she picked it up out of the box, she gave it a flick and golden sparks burst out of the tip.

"Yes, yes, yes. Perfect. Would you like to try another? It is quite expensive."

She was momentarily floored by how comfortable the wand felt in her hand that she almost missed that the wand maker was talking to her.

"Uh. No this will be fine. How much?" she asked.

"That will be twenty galleons please miss."

Natalie paid for the wand stowed it in her wand pocket and then left the shop to continue walking around.

As she was starting to get rather bored of the long walkway framed by shops, she came across a shop whose window was crowded with men of all ages peering inside the window with awe.

"The firebolt 2.0." one of them said.

"Fastest broom built so far."

"Costs a fortune though."

"I'll stick with my Cleansweep thank you very much."

I stepped around the group and walked inside the empty shop.

"May I help you miss?" asked the assistant.

"Yes, how much is the Firebolt in the window?"

"400 galleons ma'am"

_Well I do need a new broom, and I have the money to buy it. Better buy the best. _She thought to herself.

"We only have the display one at the moment, but if you buy it now you can have anything you wish inscribed on the handle." The assistant offered; "Or we have a nice range of Nimbus's for you?"

"No thank you, I will buy the display one. Can the money just be taken out of my account?"

The assistant looked astounded, and spluttered for a while before nodding and stepping around me to take the Firebolt out of the window. The men outside looked surprised and peered in deeper to see why the broom had been removed from the window, when the caught sight of the short, blonde haired witch they looked baffled.

"What would you like inscribed ma'am?" asked the cashier.

"N.A Frost please. And do hurry I need to get home soon." Natalie said.

"Yes ma'am. You may take it now."

Natalie nodded and grabbed the newly inscribed and wrapped broom.

"Button?" She called out, and the timid elf popped in next to me.

"Yes Misses Frost?" squeaked the elf.

"I would like this delivered taken to my room please. Place it in my closet; I don't want my uncle to see it."

"Yes Miss." The elf held the broom Natalie passed to it and popped out of sight.

The cashier greeted her on the way out and the group of men and boys stared after her gobsmacked as she walked down the cobble walk to the Magical Menagerie.

When she arrived at the Menagerie she spent a few minutes looking around at the dozens of bizarre animals that squeaked and squawked throughout the small-ish room. She passed a small enclosure filled with kittens and knelt down to get a better look at the small tumbling balls of fluff that were continuously falling over their too big paws. She looked through all the different coloured excited kittens and eventually her eyes settled on the tiniest kitten she had ever seen. This kitten was sitting in the corner all alone grooming itself, it was a grey, white and beige mottled colour and seemed to be missing a chunk of his left ear.

Natalie turned to the cashier and motioned if she could enter the enclosure, the cashier nodded and Natalie stepped over the short fence and inside. Kittens jumped on her legs and rubbed against her as she walked towards the small lump in the corner. She crouched to pick the small creature up. The kitten looked up at her and slowly stood. As she picked him up and looked into his odd coloured eyes she instantly fell inlove with it.

After her small purchase she decided to take the floo home instead of having Button apparate her as it would confuse and disgruntle the small male kitten she currently cradled inside her jacket.

It had been an eventful day, and it was nearing dinner time as she walked into the bathroom to freshen up before she was verbally abused due to her worn out appearance.

That evening she lay in bed twirling her wand in her hand. _Maybe tomorrow I will take my new broom out for a test drive. _She thought before drifting off to sleep, her still unnamed companion settled in her arms.

oOoOoOoO

A/N: so next chapter we skip to the 1st of September!


End file.
